CIMB Promotes Ludwigson to Australia Investment Banking Head

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd., seeking to complete the acquisition of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Australian unit by Nov. 5, has promoted RBS Managing Director Oscar Ludwigson to head up its investment banking division, according to a memo seen by Deal Journal Australia.

Reuters

Mr. Ludwigson, who is based in Sydney and currently covers telecommunications, media, technology, or TMT, and entertainment – has been with RBS Australia since December 2007. The Singapore-born banker, a U.S. citizen, has worked for ABN Amro in London and Sydney Credit Suisse in Melbourne and Citigroup in New York and Houston.

“Whilst we’re rebranding, this really sets the final piece of the puzzle in terms of the leadership team which has had good consistency, having been together for more than a decade,” said Mr. Ludwigson in an interview. “We’re not going to try to be all things to all people, we’ll be fairly targeted with regards to our offering,” added Mr. Ludwigson.

His plan is to focus on existing relationships while also leveraging on those the CIMB Group will bring from Southeast Asia, as well as from North Asia as part of CIMB’s acquisition of RBS’s Asian arm.

Mr. Ludwigson said CIMB Australia’s strengths will be across resources, TMT, financial institutions, infrastructure and property, which will cater to Southeast Asia’s focus on the latter two sectors.

“As Australian companies think about entering the growth markets of Asia or seeking Asian capital, we’ll be uniquely positioned to help them with those conversations. It’s a great opportunity for us to offer a differentiated proposition in a fairly over-banked market,” said Mr. Ludwigson.

Though CIMB – which has a current market value of 57.5 billion Malaysian ringgit (US$18.7 billion) – will have a balance sheet to offer, Mr. Ludwigson said it won’t be a main focus. “I’m not going to fall into a trap where I’m a ‘cheque book and rugby tickets’ kind of banker,” he said.